Atheism and Profanity

The use of profanity, being atheist or religious alike, has always been seen as impolite.

Yet, a study seems to have shown that the use of profanity lowers stress and boosts morale. (If God should exist then he has a twisted sense of humour, doesn't he?) So yes, I profess to profanity and I am certain that I am not alone.

So here is my question on this. Assuming you just stubbed your little toe on the bed with unsettling force;

Do you use profanity and, if you use it, how do you use it? Do you reference God in it or do you stay clear of blasphemy?

For example, a very Christian lieutenant I once knew wouldn't swear but he'd freely call out Gordon Bennet's name every time he stubbed his toe.

An atheist I heard speaking on the radio said not to use profanity involving god references just because they do not believe in god.

I try to be creative but old habits are hard to beat and I will occasionally use the good old OMG! or JMFC! still.

I agree with Christopher. While some people can get upset by it, i refuse to limit my vocabulary just because some people don't like a word. I use a wide variety of colorful curses which include blasphemy every day. Words are just words. Every child knows that sticks and stones can break your bones, but words will never hurt you.

You're right Umbra, i may have spoken a bit quickly. While saying hurtful things specifically to hurt someone can indeed be devastating, especially to a child, I was referring to adults swearing in more non specific ways. But more to the topic at hand, in regards to religion based swearing, i've always used them. I figure it's just an expression like anything else. When people sneeze i still say bless you, not because of any religious reason, but because it's polite. I've always looked at these things as to be taken for their intention instead of the literal meaning.

I was bullied quite a lot when I was younger. It was that bullying that lead me to realize that words only hurt you if you let them. Words only have power if we give them power. It took far too long for me to learn that truth, and I spent too many years allowing inane little words like "Fag" or "Douchebag" or "Shitstain" hurt me. As a people we need to grow thicker skins and learn that we decide what a word can do to us.

I'm a douchebag and a shitstain and I never see you at the meetings! (I kid). Seriously, as a little douchebag shitstain when I was a kid I'm not proud to admit that I was bullied and responded by bullying... for a little while at least. I knew what I was doing was wrong, and I felt extremely bad knowing exactly how badly she (my victim) must have felt. Bullying makes more bullies. It's some sort of social virus. The only reason I stopped is that I felt too badly to continue - though I never apologized, just swept it under the elementary school rug.

But you're right, words can be devastating and learning to disregard words when necessary is a great emotional survival skill. But that can be a tough thing to expect an 7-year-old to manage, considering they only got a handle on words about 5 years earlier.